


My Favorite Things

by Mera_kii



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: A headcannon I took too far, Elliott is flamboyantly confident, Gen, also Elliott wears a bun at some point?, and Harvey is shy about everything, just thought I'd mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-26
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2019-01-23 13:35:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12508596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mera_kii/pseuds/Mera_kii
Summary: A busy doctor with a saxophone and an aspiring writer with great hair play a song.





	My Favorite Things

**Author's Note:**

> Cups of brewed coffee on days when it's rainy,  
> Bottles of wine and plates of Autumn's Bounty,  
> Silver white winters that turn into spring  
> These are a list of my favorite things.

Harvey was almost always busy at the clinic. He'd have heaps and piles of work sometimes, even with Maru's help. He always wondered how such a small town produced that much work for him. Then again, he does owe this town a lot. Growing up in the isolated valley proved to be quite the easy life. Sometimes he'd wonder why he ever left.

He didn't have much free time, and if he did, most of it was spent in his apartment. He'd assemble and arrange a few model airplanes, read a few books, fiddle with his radio, and sometimes, on the rare occasion that he'd feel like it, maybe even play something on his saxophone.

Now, he knew that he wasn't very good. He really only played when he thought no one would hear. He enjoyed jazz and had a vinyl collection of a few artists he liked. He was already a dork with the model airplanes thing, why not go all the way with the vinyls.

He was confident (that was a lie, he was never confident) that no one, besides the possibility of Maru, who was the only other person frequently at the clinic, would know about the brass instrument that sat in his apartment.

Of course, someone eventually did.

It was a cold winter day at the valley. Bits of snow were falling and people were inside their homes cuddling up to their fires and sipping on hot cups of coffee and cocoa.

Well, everyone except for Elliott

"Hello?" he called out

Elliott has been sitting at the clinic's waiting room for a while now. A solemn jazz tune was playing in the background. Elliott was more of a classical music fan himself, but he always appreciated the unique qualities of jazz.

Despite the pleasant music, Elliott was growing a bit impatient. He got up and hesitantly walked to the doctor's office.

_'_ _I'm sure no one would mind if I just checked on him'_ He thought. He was never one to stick his nose in other people's property, but he felt as though it would be fine just this once.

He opened the door to reveal no sight of Doctor Harvey. He sighed and went back to the waiting room.

Another few minutes of sitting went by and Elliott decided it would probably be best to let himself out, until he heard the music in the background come to an abrupt stop. It ended with a pitiful squeak that definitely did not sound like it came from a recording.

Which probably meant... the music was coming from an actual person that was here? Right now?

As the thought processed in Elliott's head, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and the door to the waiting room squeaking open. There, a wide-eyed Doctor Harvey stood with a saxophone in his hands, looking at Elliott, surprised.

"E-Elliott!" The doctor made a poor attempt of hiding the instrument behind him "What are you doing here?"

Elliott straightened himself "Ah! Doctor Harvey! Good to finally see you! I'm here for the check-up I had scheduled a while back, I feel as if I've been catching a bit of a cold and wanted to let you have a look at it. By the way, your skill with the saxophone is very surprising!"

Harvey's face was turning as red as a hot pepper "O-oh no! I don't- this isn't something I do a lot. I-it's-I'm not-" Harvey stuttered and sighed

Elliott (and the entire town, by now) knew that he wasn't the best at social encounters. He was a bit of a, for Elliott's lack of a better word, _'nerd'_.

Elliott laughed "It was quite nice, doctor. Trust me! Now, how about that check-up?"

Harvey looked at him, a bit puzzled "Wait...Check-up?" He questioned "Didn't you schedule that for Monday?"

"Yes, I believe I did" Elliott smiled with the confidence he usually wore

Harvey looked down and pushed his glasses up his nose "Uh... Elliott" He motioned to the calendar that sat on the counter "I'm pretty sure it's Sunday today"

Elliott looked just as confused as Harvey did and walked over to the calendar to double-check. Apparently, he has been very ignorant of today's date.

"Oh..." Elliott managed, his face starting to flush as well "I am deeply sorry for barging into the clinic, especially on a rest day. That was quite unintelligent of me. I apologize, I'm sure you were very busy with your music"

_'Yoba, this guy apologizes shamefully better than me...'_ Harvey thought

"I-it's fine really, don't worry about it" He set the saxophone down gently and put his hands in his pockets "It's technically my fault, I forgot to lock the door, so..."

"No, no, I know my mistake. I shall return tomorrow for the actual appropriate day of the check-up. I'm sorry once again, and I'm glad I had the chance to hear your musical talent!" Elliott smiled and started to walk out

Harvey's face scrunched up at the words 'musical talent'. He didn't exactly want the word getting out about that.

"Hey, uh..." Harvey called and Elliott turned around before he could open the door "If you could, uh... not tell anyone about what you heard, that would actually be great"

Elliott raised an eyebrow, but nodded in reply and exited the clinic. Harvey locked the door this time, and both men parted ways with embarrassment on their faces.

***

The next day, Elliott returned for his actual check-up with the same confidence he wore yesterday. It was, surprisingly, not as awkward as Harvey expected it to be.

"It's just a cold, nothing much to worry about" Harvey said after a few examinations "How's the tempereture in that cabin of yours? I don't imagine it being very comfortable on cold nights"

"Ah, well indeed, it's not. Though, I've been thinking of consulting Robin about the possibility of a fireplace" Elliott replied

"Sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should give you some medicine just in case your symptoms get worse" Harvey offered and walked to the medicine cabinet

"Yes, that would be nice" Elliott said

This was just another day at the clinic for Harvey. He was glad for the lack of tension and the fact that Elliott hasn't brought up anything about what happened yesterday. He could actually talk in an acceptable professional way. Yeah, this was good.

"Doctor, about yesterday..."

Ah, of course. There it was...

"I was thinking about how you, apparently, played the saxophone and wanted to ask if you wanted to do a little duet at my cabin sometime?"

There was a very long pause after that.

_'Wow...'_ Harvey thought in the thick air of silence that separated them after Elliott expressed his suggestion _'That was awfully straightforward'_

Harvey had his back turned to him and kept looking for the medicine he needed "D-duet?" He asked

"Why, yes! I've been rather stumped with my writing recently and thought I should maybe focus on some of my other hobbies for now. It would probably be a good source of inspiration" Elliott said without a trace of hesitance on his face.

It was as if he didn't just ask his doctor to come over to his house and play a song that they've both never done before on a supposed check-up, the day after they've had an awkward encounter with each other.

_'This man really does not have any shame, does he?'_ Harvey thought.

He thought about the offer for as long as it took him to put the medicine in a paper bag. He has would never have thought that someone would even bring up a duet with him. He didn't even know if he'd survive halfway through it. But then again, Elliot's confidence would be put to waste if he just declined it.

Harvey walked back to him with the medicine in his hands "I-I'm a bit busy this season. Schedules are a bit packed and uh...you know how it is" He handed him the paper bag "Maybe some other time"

There was a hint of disappointment in Elliott's face but he remained smiling "Ah, I understand" He took the bag and smiled once again "Next time then"

At that moment, the door opened and Maru peaked into the office "Sorry to interrupt you gentlemen" She said "Shane's here, doc"

Elliott got up and headed for the door "I shall see you around, Doctor Harvey. Thank you for your time and patience"

"No Problem at all, Elliott" He waved slightly "Take care of yourself" He finished and Elliott walked out

***

It's been a while after Elliott suggested the duet to Harvey. Spring was just around the corner and small patches of grass were starting to appear around town. Despite this, it was still as cold as ever and decorations for the Feast of the Winter Star are in full swing. Gifts are being bought and food is being prepared, the Feast being only a few days away.

Harvey's boots crunched into the snow as he walked towards the beach. It was another cold Saturday afternoon and after several more, thankfully, less awkward conversations with Elliott, and advice asked from Maru, he decided to give it a try.

"I don't know about you, but it sounds like fun! I know you're not a people person but, this isn't exactly a _'people'_ it's just one singular _'person'_. You'll do fine, I know it" Maru said after her surprised reaction to the fact that Harvey actually played an instrument. Even if her advice didn't make much sense, Harvey seemed to consider it a bit more.

And now he was in front of Elliott's cabin, hesitating but determined _'No point turning back now'_   He thought and knocked twice.

The door creaked open and revealed the writer with his long hair messily tied into a bun.

"Oh!" Elliott exclaimed "Doctor? What brings you here?"

"H-hello Elliott" Harvey greeted, not as enthusiastically as he had hoped "I uh... I've been doing a lot of thinking on your suggestion for the duet and..." He motioned down at the black case he carried with him to finish his sentence

Elliott's face beamed "So you've considered it! Wonderful! Come in, doctor, come in" He welcomed

"Please, it's only Harvey outside the clinic" Harvey smiled slightly and went inside.

Maybe this would actually be fun, after all.

***

This was not fun.

Elliott and Harvey's differences in playstyle were actually harder to merge than they'd thought it'd be. It was an absolute mess of out of pitch notes that refused to harmonize.

_'Did he just change tempo? Was I going too slow the entire song? Oh Yoba, what is this scale? We're not in sync at all. Agh...wrong chord again.'_ Harvey thought every other second

Elliott was having just as hard of a time as him. He prompted Harvey to lead first but had trouble catching up on his slightly messier style of improvisation. Harvey then asked if Elliott could lead instead, but it still didn't go very well.

They ended, once again, on a wrong note and They both couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

"I don't think our rhythm is consistent enough" Harvey pointed out. He looked away from Elliott, slightly ashamed that he couldn't adapt "I'm sorry about this mess" He apologized

"There is absoloutley no need to apologize, Harvey" Elliott said and repeatedly tapped a note on his piano, trying desperately to think of a way to fuse the two genres "Maybe, I could listen to you play solo for a while and I'll see if I can build off of that?"

Harvey looked back at Elliott "Solo?" He repeated

"Yes, well I mean, I've technically heard a bit of your solo style muffled through the clinic's ceiling, but I'd like to hear it again, if you don't mind"

Harvey thought of a song and nodded slightly. He wasn't going to start getting shy now, after all of the failed takes they've made. He focused back on his instrument, inhaled a puff of air, and started to play.

The song started off strong and trailed off to a casual soloing style. Elliott listened to him play and wondered why he was so ashamed of his talent. It was more impressive then he'd make it seem to be.

It was a familiar song to him, oddly. He didn't know much of anything from the jazz genre but something about it was tugging at his memory.  
Then it finally came to him.

"Is that Robert Wise?" Elliott asked

Harvey shook his head and stopped for a second "John Coltrane" He clarified

Elliott turned to his piano and played the same melody he played throughout the song. Harvey repeated the same melody, with the loose rythm of jazz played with it.

They repeated the melody at the same time. The rhythm, once again being a problem.

Harvey shook his head "No, no. Try putting a bit more swing into the rhythm" He sampled the melody again and slowly Elliott started to get it.

They built off of each other, using a popular classical song in the jazz style to learn more about each other's genre. Elliott was quick to learn a few scales in an hour or so and Harvey asked Elliott if he would play the original song for him, to which Elliott replied with an astounding solo of his own take on the song.

They did one last take of the song and it turned out beautifully. The right amount of jazz mixed into the right amount of classical music forming a nice little fusion of the two genres. 

It was weird how Harvey managed to teach someone else about something besides their health. He never thought he'd have the guts to even play a note in the same room with someone else, but he managed to pull off an improvisational duet with a man he'd only chatted with professionally and managed to make it go magnificently. Well, for Harvey's standards at least. He hoped it met Elliott's as well, and it did. Elliott could never have been prouder of him, honestly. For a while there, he was extremely worried that they would part ways carrying the unwanted tension they were both always nervous about, but the way they played together in the end was ever so delightful.

Before they knew it, the sun had set and Harvey was wrapping up his things. Elliott agreed to keep the pieces of paper with hastily written notes and sheet music on them.

"Maybe next time you wouldn't forget to bring your sheet music" Elliott teased

"Maybe next time you'd actually have some in your house" Harvey retorted

They chuckled and Harvey clicked his saxophone case close. _'Next time, huh'_   Harvey thought but didn't really want to make promises

"I'll be seeing you around, Elliott" Harvey waved goodbye. Elliot smiled in reply and he turned to walk away. The sun had almost completely sunk when he stepped out of the cabin.

Before Harvey walked too far Elliott called out "Maybe we'd do this again next week?" For the first time, Harvey heard the hint of nerves in his voice when he asked this.

Harvey turned around and called back "Sure, If I'm not busy!"

Since then, the two men were never busy on a Saturday again.

**Author's Note:**

> In case you STILL don't know the song they played, it's John Coltrane's version of My Favorite Things  
> (Finally got around writing again after a long time ;)) thanks for reading <3)


End file.
